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FLORENCE 



ITS RESOURCES 
ITS ATTRACTIONS 
ITS POSSIBILITIES 




A CONSERVATIVE STATEMENT OF THE ADVANTAGES OFFERED 
THE INVESTOR AND HOME SEEKER 



PUBLISHED BY 

THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 

FLORENCE, FREMONT COUNTY, COLORADO 



Colorado 



SOUTHERN and Western Colorado constitute 
the richest storehouse of undeveloped 
wealth to be found anywhere in the known 
world. Nowhere is there a more rapid 
development and nowhere are the rewards 
of industry and the intelligent use of 
capital more assured. Of this vast area, much of which 
is mountains prolific in mineral wealth, the Arkansas 
Valley is the garden spot. Of the upper Arkansas Valley 
Florence and its environs occupy a central and most 
important position, as will be readily seen by reference 
to the map on the opposite page. It is always a difficult 
matter to gain a correct impression of the size of land 
areas and when the eastern inquirer is told that a 
number of counties in Colorado are larger than some 
of the Eastern states they fail even then to fully com- 
prehend how large Colorado really is. Colorado ranks 
seventh in area among the states and territories of the 
Union, being exceeded in size only by Texas, California, 




UOYAL GORGE AND HANGING BRIDGE. 




PIKE'S PEAK FROM THE 
ARKANSAS VALLEY. 

Montana, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada. Many 
of the six states and territories mentioned consist largely 
of desert land, and when their limited resources are 
considered, it is only fair to give Colorado third place 
as regards land wealth among the states and in many 
important particulars it stands first of all. Colorado 
would cover the southeast quarter of Minnesota, the 
southern half of Wisconsin, all of Lake Michigan and 
half of the state of Michigan, the north half of Indiana 
and Illinois and the east half of Iowa. 

The combined area of England, Ireland, Scotland 
and Wales is 119,765 square miles, while that of Colo- 
rado is 103,925 square miles. These four countries 
constituting the British Isles contain a population of 
about thirty-eight million people, while Colorado has 
but little over half a million. 

When the dweller in Colorado goes east and tells 
his friends and acquaintances there of tne wonderful 
resources and possible future of Colorado he finds it 
a difficult matter to make them understand what are 
the grounds upon which he bases his belief in the 
future growth of Colorado. 



^ 



h 



I I 




MAP SHOWING THE LOCATION OF FREMONT COUNTY IN COLORADO. 



It is not the province of this worli to give a gen- 
eral description of the resources of the state of Colo- 
rado only so far as they relate directly to the future 
growth and prosperity of Florence, but when it is known 
that as yet Florence is the only source of supply of all 
petroleum products, is one of the most important 
points for the reduction of the ores of the great Cripple 
Creek Gold District, is the principal supply point for 
the domestic coals of the state east of the mountains, 
is in the center of the fruit and vegetable producing 
area of the upper Arkansas Valley, it will be apparent 
that a successful attempt to impress the importance of 



Colorado upon the readers' mind is an important ac- 
complishment toward the object of impressing the im- 
portance of Florence as a factor in the development of 
the great state of Colorado. 

Colorado ranks first of all the states in the pro- 
duction of the precious metals and Florence ranks 
among the first in the reduction of these ores. Colo- 
rado ranks first of all the states in the Union in the 
amount of land under irrigation and the amount of 
capital invested in irrigation enterprises, and Florence 
has one of the largest tracts of rich mesa lands yet to 
be reclaimed available in the state. 



Fremont County 



IT WAS OVER a pass in the Rocky Mountains, 
situated in the southern part of what is now 
Fremont County, Colorado, that John C. Fre- 
mont, the noted explorer of the Rocl;ies, passed 
over into Wet IMountain Valley and on over 
the Sangre De Cristo range to the San Luis 
Valley in his search for the headwaters of the Rio 
Grande River. It was in honor of this first explorer 
of its mountain sections that the county was given its 
name. 





FREMONT COUNTY OIL FIELD. 



EIGHT MILE CANON, F. & C. C. R. R. 

As will be seen by referring to the map on the 
preceding page Fremont County occupies very nearly 
a central position in the great state of Colorado. It 
contains within its borders mountain peaks approach- 
ing the 14,000 mark and the lowest valley in the state. 
It contains within its borders not only the most noted 
canon in the state, the Royal Gorge, but it contains 
another of equal, if not greater beauty, the canon of 
Eight Mile Creek traversed by the picturesque and beau- 
tiful scenic line of the Florence and Cripple Creek Rail- 
road, destined to become as noted for its scenery as 



has its more thoroughly advertised competitor, "The 
Short Line." 

Fremont County contains thousands of acres of the 
best coal lands of the state, the development of which 
has but just begun, though thousands of tons per day 
can be produced from Fremont County mines. Fremont 
County contains immense deposits of cement, lime, 
gypsum, sand that can only be detected from sugar by 
the taste, marble, and all the precious metals. Fre- 
mont County contains the only parafflne base illuminat- 
ing petroleum yet developed in paying quantities in the 
state of Colorado or west of Ohio. 

Fremont County contains 179, iSl acres of assessed 
lands under various classifications as follows: Grazing 
lands 122,970 acres, agricultural lands 29,992 acres, coal 



lands 16,760 acres, other mineral lands patented 3,009 
acr-es. The above, amounting to about eight townships, 
constitutes about one quarter of the area of the county 
and is situated in the central eastern end, almost sur- 
rounded by the mountains which constitute at least 
three quarters of the county. Of the land classed as 
grazing land a large percentage is susceptible of irri- 
gation and will some day be reclaimed under irrigation 
systems of either private or governmenial origin. The 
total assessed valuation of the county is $6,365,940. 
Besides the coal and oil lands which have been fairly 
well developed, there are thousands of acres in the 
county as yet scarcely scratched by the pick of the pros- 
pector where in the future untold wealth is linely to 
be uncovered. 




•'•K±:V... 



MAP OF FREMONT COUNTY AND ENVIRONS, 




PIKE'S PEAK FROM FLORENCE. 



Florence and its Environs 



THE CITY of Florence is situated at almost 
the center of the available area of Fre- 
mont County for agricultural and : _anu- 
facturing purposes. It is at the natural 
confluence of all roads leading from the 
mountains and plains to the Arkansas 
River and to the railroads which give access to the 
towns of the county. Situated in the very center, east 
and west, of the oil field it is the natural location for 
the oil refining industry. Situated upon the edge of the 
Fremont County coal fields with a down-hill haul from 
every mine in the district it is the natural center of 
trade for the populous and growing mining communi- 
ties. Situated at the terminus of the Florence and 
Cripple Creek Railroad, with its unlimited supply of 
cheap coal Florence is the natural location for extensive 



ore reduction works not only for the ores of the Cripple 
Creek District but for the rapidly developing mines of 
Western Fremont County and those of its neighboring 
counties of Chaffee, Saguache and Custer, all of which 
will be readily seen by referring to the map of Florence 
and its environs and the map of Fremont County. 

Florence is a city of about 4,000 population, ex- 
clusive of its suburbs, which has been a gradual growth 
of the last ten years. Florence, differing from most 
western towns, has never had a boom with its dis- 
astrous reaction. Florence has had its periods of un- 
exampled prosperity and comparative depression but 
never a period of wild inflation and consequent collapse 
of values. It is probable that this fact is due to the 
stability of its one exclusive industry, the oil Business. 
Its other industries, i. e., the coal mining and ore re- 




SCENE ON MAIN STREET, FLORENCE. 




MAP OF FLORENCE AND ENVIRONS. 



duction interests, have had their periods of comparative 
idleness owing to labor troubles and various causes 
which have caused fluctuations in the employment of 
labor, but the oil, like Tennyson's brook, flows on for- 
ever in an ever increasing stream, giving steady em- 
ployment from one year's end to another to an ever 
increasing number of men of a class who earn good 



wages, become owners of their own homes, and steady 
supporters of the business community. 

It is unnecessary to dwell upon the character of the 
town as the illustrations constituting a large part of 
this work convey a more vivid impression of the sub- 
stantial character of its business portion, and of the 
pleasing as well as substantial features of its residence 
section than can be done by descriptive text. 





A FLORENCE RESIDENCE. 



FREMONT HOTEL,. 



CLIMATE. 

As has already been stated Florence is situated al- 
most in the center of an amphitheater with the mountain 
ranges on three sides averaging about ten miles dis- 
tant while on the fourth or eastern side high bluffs, 
not properly mountains, come to the river banks, thus 
shutting in a circular area of about twenty miles in 



diameter with Florence in its center. While Florence 
necessarily enjoys to a large extent the general 
characteristics of the Colorado climate yet it has some 
local characteristics due to the topography of its im- 
mediate surroundings. As there are no official local 
weather statistics attainable, only a general statement 
of the exceptional features can be made. Probably 





FLORENCE STATE BANK. 



PIKE'S PEAK AVENUE, LOOKING NORTH. 



the most notable exception is in the matter of wind. 
Owing to its shut-in location Florence does not ex- 
perience the average amount of wind with which Colo- 
rado is accredited; then, too, as the immediate environs 
of the town are irrigated and cultivated lands there is 
not the average amount of uust experienced by places 
situated out upon the plains where the wind has a long 
sweep over extensive arid plains. 

It is customary for every place in Colorado to claim 
more sunshine than any other place in tne state and 
Florence is no exception to the rule. As these claims 
can neither be proven nor disproven they have little 
weight, but this much can be proven from official data 
of the weather bureau, viz: That as between Denver and 
the Arkansas Valley weather bureau reports there is an 
average difference of about 10 per cent in the matter of 



rrRiBUNEi 





THE DAILY TRIBUNE. 



A FLORENCE CHURCH. 

sunshine in favor of the valley and it is but a fair in- 
ference that Florence experiences about tiie same con- 
ditions which prevail at other points in the valley as 
to sunshine. There is an impression quite prevalent 
that the Arkansas Valley is very much hotter in sum- 
mer than other portions of the state. Official data 
shows that the mean of maximum temperature is less 
than one degree higher for Pueblo than for Denver, 
and as Florence is several hundred feet higher than 
Pueblo and removed from the plains which are always 
hotter than the mountains, it is but a fair inference 
that the summer temperature would be found no higher 
than other places at the same altitude, in fact no one 
need be much concerned about excessive heat any- 
where in Colorado. While it is not admitted that the 
summers in the upper Arkansas Valley are warmer 
than other portions of the state it must be admitted 
that any discomfort experienced from the summer's 




r-'JT-'- ■.-y;>;iv -v 



(^ ^ 




A FLORENCE RESIDENCE. 



ROCK ISLAND HOTEL. 




heat is amply paid for in the absence of cold and 
storms in winter frequently experienced in other sec- 
tions of the state. Colorado as a whole is blessed with 
a delightful winter climate, but if there is any one sec- 
tion especially blessed in this respect it is the upper 
Arkansas Valley and Florence. 

In the matter of rain-fall Florence receives about 
the average for the state east of tne mountains which 
is approximately 15 inches per annum, falling largely 
as showers during the summer months; prolonged rains 
or heavy snows being but very seldom experienced. 




FIRST BRICK SCHOOL. 



Tiili; Fll:ST sen I I, iL, 





THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK. 



THE JACKSON DRY GOODS & CLOTHING COMPANY. 



EDUCATIONAL. 

Florence offers to the homeseeker, with children, 
the same advantages for a liberal education, up to the 
end of a high school course, that will be found in any 
community of the size of B'lorence in Colorado, which 
is synonymous with saying equal to those attainable 
anywhere in the United States. Among the illustrations 
will be found pictures of the first and last of five school 
buildings erected in Florence which tell the story of 
educational progress in the community more emphati- 
cally than words can tell it. The Florence Circulating 
Library and free reading room affords ample material 
and opportunity for all desiring such facilities. 

RELIGIOUS. 

While Florence has put more money into building 
ore reduction works than she has in building churche.^ 
yet she has eight churches, all very creditable build- 





HUTEL LK.\.\i iX. 

ings, representing almost every evangelical denomina- 
tion usually found in our western country. These 
churches are as well attended and well supported as 
are the churches of average communities, and exert a 
moral influence, which, while not excluuing the saloon 
and its auxiliary evils, so controls public sentiment 




ARTESIAN WELL. 



THE FLORENCE HIGH SCHOOL. 




SCENES IN AND ABOUT FLORENCE. 






FLORENCE CHAMBER OF Co.M.Ml-atCi:. 

that the result is an orderly and law-abiding com- 
munity, in fact an exception in tnis respect for a town 
whose inhabitants are so largely wage earners, but 
as already stated, Florence wage earners are of an ex- 
ceptionally high class. 

SANITARY CONDITIONS. 

In many towns the size of Florence the sanitary 
regulations are very imperfect in the matter of general 





THE HADLEY MERCANTILE COMPANY. 




A FLORENCE RESIDENCE. 



CLUB HOUSE. 




JOHNSON-FRITZ BLOCK. 





A RESIDENCE STREET. 

application, but a small part of the community avail- 
ing themselves of the facilities for modern sanitation. 

It is different in Florence. The city is provided 
with a thorough and perfect system of sewers and 
every property is obliged to connect with them, and it 
would surprise many residents of more pretentious 
cities to find all modern improvements in many small 




RAMSET-McGUIRE MERCANTILE COMPANY. 



A FLORENCE RESIDENCE. 



cottages of three or four rooms renting in many in- 
stances as low as from six to fifteen dollars per month. 

WATER SUPPLY. 

There is perhaps nothing in which Florence is 
more fortunate as a community than in the possession 
of a water supply for domestic purposes both ample 
and of the finest quality. With commendable foresight 
the city authorities early secured a supply of pure 
mountain water, not only securing the water but con- 
trol of its sources so that it is insured against any 
possibility of contamination. The illustrations show 
not only the ultimate source of the water but also the 
distributing reservoirs to be located away above any 
possibility of contamination from dust carried from 
the city as they are well up among the foot hills from 
which the water is piped into the city and distributed 
to every house so that there need be no danger to the 
community from the use by a part of its residents of 
impure water. The quality of the water is beyond 
question. 





A FLORENCE RESIDENCE. 

BUSINESS. 

As a business center Florence has never aspired 
to reaching out beyond her local retail trade, though 
there are sufficient good reasons to warrant the pre- 
diction that as the development of her neighboring 




ANDREWS BLOCK. 



LiiKi;i:iri' furniture company. 



»>. 



counties goes on she may become something of a whole- 
sale center as well. 

The Cripple Creek Gold District will eventually be 
reached from Florence not only by the present Florence 
and Cripple Creek road, but also by a railroad of lower 
grades than possible from any other point, which will 
divert more of its trade in the direction of Florence. The 
present road up Oak Creek to the coal mines will in all 
probability sometime be extended over Oak Creek grade, 
the lowest pass in the outer range, to Custer County, 
as her mines develop, thus not only bringing the ores 
of that section to Florence reduction works but open- 
ing up another rich district for trade, and as Florence 
already has the two great railroads of the valley as 
competitors for her trade, there are very good grounds 
for anticipating the development of Florence along 
these lines in the future. At present the town is well 







m^ ^ Pf^B 




SECOND REGIMENT C. N. G. BAND. 






supplied with business houses carrying good stocks in 
all lines and offers only the ordinary opportunities in 
commercial lines afforded by any growing community. 

In the lines of labor there are good openings con- 
stantly offering for good men at good wages. Any 




LOBACH BLOCK. 



PHILLIPS TOOL COIUPANY. 




good steady man desiring to establish a home and will- 
ing to work at whatever he can find to ao at first, will 
stand an excellent chance in Florence of getting what 
he wants to do within a reasonable time as there is a 
gradukl increase of labor to be done and the man who 
is best known is most likely to get it. 

SOCIAL. 

Florence has all the social advantages usually 
found in a place of its size. A number of fraternal 
societies have flourishing lodges — there are ladies' clubs 
and social clubs too numerous to mention, and facilities 
for acquiring the accomplishments in music and art 
are equal to any town of its size. 

Florence will bear investigation by those seeking a 
safe field of investment, or for a home where there is 
every probability of future growth and advancement. 






SOURCES OF FLORENCE CITY WATER SUPPLY. 



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RESORT FEATURES. 

Florence has never posed as a resort, although it 
enjoys many natural advantages which might be utilized 
if properly exploited. In the first place it has pure 
mountain water, a very important consideration, it has 
as great climatic advantages as any other place in 
the state. It has delightful drives in great variety, em- 
bracing mountain and valley scenery not excelled any- 
where and equalled by but few localities. It has good 
fishing and hunting within a few miles ride. It has 
good society and every facility for easy access and quick 
communication with the outside world. It has a rail- 
road, the Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad, reaching 
some of the grandest canon and mountain scenery in 
the state of Colorado. 

Florence would make a fine location for a tent city 
for invalids desiring to live an out-of-door life yet be 
within easy reach of all the advantages of an established 
community. Horseback riding is a very popular form 
of amusement in Florence, there being many good 
saddlers owned in the town as it affords many interest- 
ing rides. 

THE OIL INTERESTS. 

It will probably .surprise many of the readers of this 
book to learn that Florence supplies all the refined oil 




WELLS 1 AND 3. UNITED OIL COMPANY. 

for illuminating purposes that is consumed in the states 
of Montana, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado, and tne 
territories of New Mexico and Arizona. The oil industry 
has gone on from year to year gradually developing 
virgin territory till there is a daily product of over 
3,000 barrels or 120,000 gallons of refined oil which is 
distributed over the section named. Ihere are 275,000 
acres of known oil lands adjacent to Florence, of which 
only about 25,000 acres have as yet been exploited by 











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WELL 49. UNITED OIL COMPANY. 



\\ I-;LL of the KEYSTONE OIL COMPANY. 



the drill, and this area scarcely scratched, the total 
number of wells put down being over 400 or one to 
every 60 acres of the field so far developed. When one 
considers that in the eastern oil fields it is not unusual 
to see as many as six wells upon an acre, it will be 
realized how much is yet to be done to develop even a 
small fraction of the possible product of this oil deposit. 
It must be remembered, however, that the Florence oil 
field is not like the Pennsylvania oil fields, in which 
the oil is found in a sand strata which can be defined 
and within the defined limits sure to yield a producer. 
In the Florence field the oil is deposited in pockets or 
crevices, and it is impossible to predict with the same 
degree of certainty what the outcome will be in any 
well until the drill has passed the extreme depth at 
which oil has been found, as the depth varies between 
fifteen hundred and three thousand feet. One well may 





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WELL 24S— A 200 BARREL PRODUCER. 




. .lOFINERY OF THE UNITED OIL CoilPAXY. 









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THE FLORENCE OIL FIELDS. 



is prepared to stay in the game even a reasonable 
lengtli of time. There are in the Florence field about 
seventy-five producing wells ranging all the way from 
10 to 200 barrels per day. As the Florence field is the 
only one west of Ohio yielding a paraffine base oil, one 
which can be refined into illuminating oil, and as the 
eastern fields are unable to more than supply the east- 
ern markets, there is every encouragement for the in- 
vestment of money in the Florence oil field, for it has 
been proven that one good producer will return the 
investment lost in a number of failures, and a good 
annual dividend on the whole amount for a good many 
years, so that for the man who is not looking for a 




CONNECTED OIL WELLS AT FLORENCE. 



be a heavy producer and other wells around it not 
produce a barrel of oil. while another at some distance 
away may "strike oil." Wells Nos. 1 and 3 of the 
United Oil Company have been pumped for over twenty 
years and are producing oil today, though not in any 
considerable quantity. Well No. 49, it is claimed, has 
produced more oil than any other well in the United 
States, having yielded over 1,000,000 barrels, and in 
money value over $1,000,000. The opportunities at Flor- 
ence for the investment of money in the production of 
oil are just as good today as they have been at any 
time since the discovery of the oil deposits. It has 
always been a gamble, to some extent, but it is a gam- 
ble in which the chances are in favor Oi. the man who 




OIL WELLS IN TOWN. 



"sure thing" at every deal it offers a gooci field for in- 
vestment. Wliile tlie present production is very largely 
controlled by the United Oil Company, who refine 
all their own oil, they encourage independent effort in 
the field, and there are several other companies operat- 
ing in the field, among which are: The Blaney Oil Com- 
pany, the Centennial, Centrad, Columbia, Creede, Cres- 
cent, Doctor, Empire. Fremont. Frazier Hiawatha, Key- 
stone, Lxsbach, Majestic, National, Oak Creek, Stadi- 
cona, Union, Union Oil and Coal, Victor, and the West 
Lebanon Oil Company, all now operating in the Flor- 
ence field. 

The relations of the Standard Oil Company to the 




OIL WELL SUPPLY COMPANY AT FLOKKXCK. 




Florence field are not generally understood. The Stand- 
ard Oil Company does not control the production or the 
refining of the Florence oil, but does supply the pro- 
ducers a market for their product as they do practically 
every oil producer or refiner in the United States. With- 
out that company and their facilities for marketing the 
product the Florence oil field would not enjoy its ad- 
vance to anywhere near its present proportions. While 
the Standard Oil people are "out for all there is in it" 
they encourage the producer and refiner. They know 
all the dangers which confront such an industry, and 
what may seem a restraint at times is really a pro- 



J. D. ROCKEFELLER'S OFFICE. 




A DRU^LlNc; WELL. 




FLORENCE OIL COMPANY'S REFINERY. 




PANORAMA OF FLOREI 



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Centrad Oil Co. 
Columbia Crude Oil Co. 



^'i^•tOl- Oil Co. 
National Oil Co. 
West Lebanon Oil Co. 



Union Oil Co. 
Blaney Oil Co. 



lli:iu;itll;i (Jil Co. 
Sladacona Oil Co. 
Oak Creek Oil Co. 



tection from the dangers which threaten inexperienced 
operators. 

It is probable that to many people, even of average 
intelligence, "oil is oil" and they are not aware of the 
fact that it is not of all kinds of crude petroleum that 
the "coal oil" or kerosene oil of commerce can be ob- 
tained. It is a fact that with the wonderful discoveries 
of petroleum within the past five years not a gallon of 
paraffine base petroleum has been added to the world's 
visible supply, for all of the late oil strikes have been 
oils of asphaltum base, suitable only for fuel purposes. 
The Florence oil yields not only the lighter illuminating 
products of the petroleum but all of the lubricating 
properties of the best West Virginia oils as well. 

COAL INTERESTS. 

Immediately tributary to Florence are the coal 
mines of Fremont County, at Coal Creek, Rockvale, 
Williamsburg, Chandler, Brookside and Bear Gulch. 

At Coal Creek is located the Canfield mine, the 
oldest coal mine in the state of Colorado, belonging to 
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, wno are also the 
owners of the Bear Gulch mine at Bear Gulch. These 





THE TOWN OF COAL, CREEK. 




i;i-:aii gulch coal, .mixe. 




THE CHANDLER COAL MINE. 



THE COWAN COAL MINE. 



two mines employ about 300 men. The Rockvale and 
Brookside mines are owned by the Atchison, Topeka 
and Santa Fe Railroad and employ about 500 men. 

At Chandler, another thriving mining town about 
five miles from Florence, is located one of the largest 
mines in the county. This mine is owned by the Victor 
Fuel Company and employs about 150 men. 

At Williamsburg are located the Ocean Wave, be- 
longing to the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company, the Pea- 
nut and Williamsburg Slope, properties of Smith and 
Company, and employing about 125 men. 

Besides these larger developments there are a 
number of smaller mines owned by individuals which 




THE BLAZING RAG COAL MINE. 




PANORAMA OF NORTH HALF OF ROCKVALE. 




in the aggregate mine a large quantity of coal and 
employ a considerable number of men, adding very 
materially to the prosperity of Florence, which receives 
a large part of the trade of these mining communities. 

Within three miles of Florence are located the 
Williams mine owned by F. M. Williams, the Horse- 
shoe owned by Anton Morganstein, the Cowan and the 
Castle Rock owned by Chas. Cowan, the Blazing Rag 
and the Polly Pry owned by McLean and Company, the 
Brewster owned by S. P. Smith and Company, and the 
Cuckoo operated upon the co-operative plan by the 
men who do the work. These individual mines employ 
about 200 men. 

This is probably the only place in the United States, 



HORSESHOE COAL MINE. 




Florence and adding much to her prosperity. This 
resource, like the oil industry, is one constantly in- 
creasing in magnitude and importance, and owing to 
its nearness to the best markets one likely to grow 
rapidly to very large proportions, bike the oil field 
the coal fields of Fremont County offer fine opportunities 
for the enlistment of capital and enterprise. 









OCEAN WAVE CO.\L .M I .\ lO 




PANORAMA OF SOUTH HALF OF ROCKVALE. 



possibly in the world, where coal and petroleum are 
produced from the same ground at the same time. The 
illustration of the Peanut mine shows a mine produc- 
ing coal and but a few rods distant and passing through 
the workings of the mine is a well which is a producer 
of oil, the coal fields overlapping the oil deposits over 
a considerable area at Florence. 

All of the coal produced from the Fremont County 
mines is the best quality of domestic coal found in 
Colorado and finds a ready market, not only in the 
cities of the state but also as far east as Kansas City, 
Mo. There are in the various mining towns named 
probably 3,500 population, very largely tributary to 





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PEANUT COAL MINE. 




SCENE ON LINE OF THE FLOR ENCE & CRIPPLE CREEK R. R. 



ORE REDUCTION. 

With the development of the Cripple Creek Gold 
District and the building of the Florence and Cripple 
Creek Railroad, began a new era for Florence. Cheap 
fuel owing to its proximity to the Fremont County 
coal mines and to the fuel products of the oil field, 
together with a down-hill haul from the mines and 
ample water supply, rendered Florence the most el- 
igible place in the state for the reduction of these ores. 
Florence grasped the opportunity, and as one company 




ROCKY MOUNTAIN SMELTER. 




UNION MILL, OF THE U. S. REFIN ING AND REDUCTION COMPANY. 




after another proposed to establish reduction works 
every facility possible was extended to them and eight 
large plants were erected within a radius of less than 
two miles of the city. The United States Reduction 
and Refining Company are the owners of two plants, 
the Union Mill with a daily capacity of 400 tons of ore, 
and the National with a capacity of 200 tons; the two 
employing about 300 men. Ihese mills use the chlori- 
nation process in the extraction of the gold from the 
ore. The Dorcas Mill, owned by the Dorcas Milling 
Company, is also a chlorination mill of 150 tons daily 
capacity and gives employment to about sixty men. 
The Beam Milling Company operates a mill of 




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The combined capacity of the six mills remaining, 
two having been destroyed by fire, is between 1,100 and 
1,200 tons of ore daily, giving employment, when run- 
ning at their full capacity, to about C50 men. 

It has been demonstrated by companies operating 
plants here and at other points that the saving in cost 
of fuel at Florence is sufflcieni on every ton of ore 
treated to afford a good profit on the business, and the 
permanence of this industry at Florence is pretty well 
established for at least the life of the Cripple Creek 
mining district, which promises well for many years 
of large production. 



11 no FLORENCE MILL. 




THE DORCAS MILL. 



seventy-five tons capacity, using what is known as the 
"Beam Process" of extraction, a chemical process, and 
employs seventy-five men. 

The Florence Mill, owned by the Colorado Mining 
and Leasing Company, has a capacity of sixty tons per 
day and uses the cyanide process, employing thirty-five 
men. 

The only smelter, properly speaking, is the smelter 
of the Rocky Mountain Smelter Company, which has a 
capacity for reducing 250 tons of ore daily and em- 
ploys 100 men. 




THE NATIONAL MILL. 




ADELAIDE STATION, F. & C. C. R. R. 



THE CEMENT INDUSTRY. 

The growth of the cement trade in this country 
during the last decade has been phenomenal, chiefly by 
reason of the demand created by the extraordinary in- 
crease in the erection of high office buildings and sub- 
marine constructions. The general uses for which 
cement is suitable are increasing so rapidly that an 
enumeration of its various applications is impossible 
in the limited space available, but we are all familiar 
with the cement sidewalk and doubtless the average 



to become an immense consumer in the gigantic public 
works in reclaiming the desert under the irrigation 
law. 

In view of this ever increasing demand it is but a 
fair inference that the cement interests of Fremont 
County as established at Portland, six miles from Flor- 
ence, are destined to become one of the most import- 
ant manufacturing industries of the county and of the 
Arkansas Valley. At Portland are combined the ad- 
vantages of unlimited deposits of the finest cement. 



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CEMENT WORKS AT PORTLAND, FREMONT COUNTY, COLORADO. 



reader will associate the use of this material with this 
limited function. 

Among engineers concrete is fast supplanting 
masonry for foundation walls, piers and abutments and 
in all places where stone and brick masonry have been 
used. Railroads are adopting it for culverts, mile posts, 
roadbeds, ties, tunnel and sub-way linings. 

Municipalities are applying it to all public works 
for curbings, sewers, filtering plants and public build- 
ings, and the government of the United States is likely 



lime and plaster rock, with coal and oil fuel to be found 
anywhere in the United States, and the phenomenal 
success of the Portland Cement Company in not only 
producing a quality of cement which has stood the 
severest tests in competition with long established 
brands, but in establishing a market which taxes the 
producing capacity of their immense plant to its utmost, 
is one of the industrial triumphs of the century. 

As will be observed from the illustrations the Port- 
land cement works are extensive, including not only 





PLASTER QUARRY AT PORTLAND. 



CEMENT QUARRY AT PORTLAND. 



the manufacture of cement but of building plaster, 
which is very rapidly superceding the old lime and 
sand plaster in all lines of construction. The Portland 
plant turns out 1;000 barrels of cement and a large 
amount of plaster every day and gives employment to 



200 men, thus proving not only an important factor in 
the prosperity of Fremont County but a very important 
one in the support of Florence business houses, which 
supply a large part of the needs of a rapidly growing 
community at Portland. 




TOWNSITE OF PORTLAND. 



CATTLE AND LIVESTOCK. 

The assessment roll of Fremont County includes 
15,035 head of livestock as having been owned in the 
county in 1903, of which 11,854 were classed as cattle. 
Fremont County is not so much noted for the large 
number of its livestock as it is for the quality it pro- 
duces. Some of the finest stocii in the state, both of 
cattle and horses, is raised and owned in Fremont 
County, Florence being the center of this industry as 
well as of the others mentioned. 

As will be observed by reference to the map of 
Fremont County, there are extensive tracts of open 
country to the south and southeast of Florence, also 
to the northeast, affording fine pasturage, all of which 
territory is directly tributary to Florence. It was upon 
the Watson ranch southeast of Florence that the Prince 
of Wales and Grand Duke Alexis spent some days 
hunting buffalo when visiting this country in 1864. 




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FREMONT COUNTY COWBOYS. 




ROUND-UP OF 3,O0U CATTLE ON WATSON'S RANCH IN FREMONT COUNTY. 



STRING OF FIVE HOLDING WORLD'S RECORD. 



DINNER ON THE ROUND-UP. 




A TYPICAL GOAT PASTURE. 




FREMONT COUNTY BURROS. 



The house snown in the picture of the "round-up of 
3,000 cattle" is where tliey were entertained and is yet 
in existence. 

Besides the cattle and usual livestock there is per- 
haps the largest herd of goats to be found in the state 
pasturing among the hills just outside of Florence. 
The picture of this herd shows that the traditional 
preference of the goat for a stone quarry as a pasture 
is no myth. Another picture shows the shipping of 
a number of "Colorado canaries" (burros) to the east, 
which is becoming quite an industry and as it costs 
literally nothing to raise them it is an industry which 
might be made a source of considerable profit by in- 
valids who desire an out-door life without much 
capital invested. In connection with the cattle in- 
terests it may interest the reader to know that Florence 
is perhaps the only place in Colorado which has been 
able to defy the beef trust and furnish its citizens with 




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A MOUNTAIN VALLEY ON THE P. & C. C. R. R. 




A BUNCH OP PREMONT COUNTY STEERS. 




A PREMONT COUNTY THOROUGHBRED 



COLORADO CANARIES GOING EAST. 



good meat cheap. The best cuts of porterhouse are 
sold in the markets for 12V^ cents and from that down 
to 4 cents per pound for boiling meats, and the quality 
of the meat sold is equal to any packing house meat 
sold In Colorado. There are a number of quite noted 
horses owned and were raised in the vicinity of Flor- 
ence. One of the illustrations shows a string of five 
owned by Watson Brothers, which hold the world's 
record on a five mile run, each horse running a mile 
and the rider changing. 

AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS. 




THE FRAZIER ORCHARD. 



The purely agricultural interests about Florence 
are not extensive owing to the fact that the land is 
so much more valuable for intensive farming as 
gardens and orchards that the raising of ordinary farm 
products has largely given way to truck farming and 



horticulture. But there are some quite extensive and 
model farms along the valley which produce immense 
crops of whatever it is attempted to raise. Alfalfa is 
the leading farm crop as it requires less labor and is 
more profitable than any other crop. There is just to 




ALFALFA FIELD JUST OUT OF FLORENCE. 




EIGHT MILE CANON A FEW MILES PROM FLORENCE. 



the northeast of the city an extensive mesa of very 
rich land which only needs water upon it to afford one 
of the finest agricultural possibilities of the state. It is 
only a question of sufficient capital to handle the 
proposition, when the most extensive farm and garden 
tracts yet undeveloped in the state can be made to 
support a dense population over an area of some 100 
square miles of the most beautifully located and at- 
tractive home sites imaginable. When this is accomp- 
lished Florence can be rightfully named the Garden 
City of the West, as it is territory for which she will 
be the natural center. By referring to the map of 
Fremont County, it will be seen that there are a num- 
ber of available reservoir sites for the preservation of 
water for the reclaiming of this tract and it is only 
a question of time when it will be accomplished either 
by private enterprise or through the government. To 
the southeast of Florence there is a large tract of 
prosperous territory, comprising some of the largest 
cattle ranches in the state as well as a number of ex- 
tensive agricultural ranches both under irrigation and 




CONQUERING THE DESERT. 





SUBURBAN HOMES AT FLORENCE. 



LILIES OF THE VALLEY. 




A HORTICULTtJRIST'S HOME AT FLORENCE. 



depending upon rain fall, which is abundant as the 
mountains are approached, and the opportunity still 
exists for the establishment of such enterprises in 
Fremont County. 

HORTICULTURE. 
The raising ot fruit and vegetables is already one 
of the greatest interests of the entire Arkansas Valley, 



but promises for the future to become the greatest in- 
terest. There are almost limitless opportunities for the 
home-seeker desiring to develop small tracts of five, 
ten, or more acres, all along the valley, particularly 
within a few miles of Florence. These lands are not 
cheap in one sense, but when it is considered that many 
acres cultivated have yielaed $1,000 per acre per year 




DAM SITE IN CANON. 

one can hardly consider any price as high. Such lands 
can be bought unimproved, with water rights at from 
$200 to $300 per acre, which in small fruits and vege- 
tables can in two years be made to pay from $500 to 
$1,000 per acre. The Prazier orchard, which originally 
comprised eighty acres, has produced $25,000 worth of 
apples in one season, and many instances of a net pro- 
duct of $500 and over per acre are well authenticated. It 
is also interesting to note that the Frazier orchard, 
which still produces large crops of apples, is also pro- 
ducing oil, the Frazier Oil Company's well being 




— -^ ^<"-i 



A RECi';.\ r 



AVER DAM AT FLORENCE. 




FREMONT COUNTY DEER. 



located among the apple trees. The illustrations con- 
vey a better idea of what is possible in the line of 
horticulture and small home-making than can be con- 
veyed by language. 

MISCELLANEOUS INDUSTRIES. 

Florence has a number of enterprises grouped under 
this miscellaneous head deserving of notice, as they 
in the aggregate employ a considerable amount of 
labor, among which are an ice manufactory, electric 
light plant. The Florence Iron Works, which includes 
a foundry capable of turning out work ordinarily not 
done by country foundries. The Florence Iron Works 
build a rotary engine, a picture of which is given, which 
promises to revolutionize the use of small motive power 
engines with gasoline as a motive agent, as even the air- 
ship can carry one of these engines of sufficient power 
to overcome very strong currents. Quite an important 
industry is a branch of the Oil Well Supply Company, 
of Pittsburg, Pa., which carries all oil well supplies 
for the western oil fields, and is fitted to make all re- 
pairs required. The David Phillips Company, of Brad- 





Ai:i<.\.\'S.\S \-AT>LF,Y ELECTRIC IjIOUT IM..\X 







CRYSTAL ICE PLANT. 



COAL CAR MANUFACTORY. 



ford, Pa., also have a branch house in Florence, which 
carries a full line of oil well supplies, engines, boilers, 
etc., and give employment to a number of men. 

The Fremont Carriage Company and Coal Car 
Works build a patented dumping coal car for mines, 
which is very popular, and is becoming an important 
industry. The Florence Carriage Manufactory is also 
an industry of importance to the city. 

With her cheap fuel and facilities for creating power 
cheaply, Florence offers exceptional advantages for a 
large variety of small manufactories, and its advantages 
ought to appeal to many looking for eligible locations 
for small plants in many lines. The recent discovery 
of large deposits of a pure granular sand which is al- 
most pure silica opens up a field for glass works which 
might be made profitable when the immediate supply 
of fuel and gas is taken into consideration. 





FLORENCE IRON WORKS. 





A FLORENCE ROTARY ENGINE. 



RESERVOIR SITE NEAR FLORENCE. 




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SCENES ON THE FLORENCE & CRIPPLE CREEK R. R. 



RAILROADS OF FLORENCE. 

Florence is situated vipon tne main transcontinental 
line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, by which it 
is reached from all points in Western Colorado, Utah, 
Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Montana and 
Idaho, via Salt Lake City. By the Atchison, Topeka & 
Santa Fe, directly from Chicago, Kansas City, Galveston 
and El Paso, Texas, and Southern California. From St. 
Louis and the World's Fair, Kansas City, Central Mis- 
souri, Central Kansas and the southeastern sections of 
the country, the Missouri Pacific is the direct line to 
Florence and the Coast. From the East by way of Den- 



ver, the Union Pacific, Burlington and Rock Island 
routes connect with Denver & Rio Grande trains to 
Florence without change. From Central Texas the Colo- 
rado and Southern connects at Pueblo with trains for 
Florence, over either the D. & R. G. or A., T. & S. F. 
roads. 

Florence is the point of change for all passengers 
to the Cripple Creek Gold District over the Florence & 
Cripple Creek Railroad, one of the finest scenic routes 
in the world, and with its connection, the Colorado 
Midland, to Colorado Springs, is a favorite route to 
Denver and the East. 




DENVER & DIO GRANDE AND FLORENCE & CRIPPLE CREEK R. R. DEPOT. 




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DUNNVILLE, THE NEW MINING CAMP ON F. & C. C. R. R.. FREMONT COUNTY. 




SANTA FE RAILROAD EEPOT AT FL,ORENCE. 



